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completion without being stored. This is in contrast to traditional "ter-
minal sterilization" cycles, where instruments are sterilized within con-
tainers, wrappers or primary packaging designed to maintain the instru-
ments' sterility and let you store the devices for later use. "Flash sterili-
zation" doesn't fully describe the various steam sterilization cycles
S T E R I L I Z A T I O N
To discourage OR staff from using
the flash autoclaves on the surgical
floor above them, the sterile process-
ing department at Memorial Hospital
in Chattanooga, Tenn., got creative. It
placed signs on the autoclaves that
deliver a loud-and-clear message:
Do not use! "We wanted to decrease
flash autoclaving on the autoclaves
that have the flash cycles on them,"
says Debbie Hollis, the sterile pro-
cessing quality educator at Memorial
Hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn. "Our
reprocessing staff isn't always there to see what's in the autoclaves and
many OR staffers don't want to come to the sterile processing depart-
ment." Ms. Hollis argues that if the SPD staff are notified each time the
OR needs an instrument turned over, they can offer alternative options,
"resulting in fewer flashed instruments and all patients receiving instru-
ments sterilized the proper way." So far, the signs seem to be doing their
job. "The signs really got their attention and out of the habit of flashing,"
says Ms. Hollis. "We're at zero flashing."
— Dan O'Connor
STERILIZER SIGNAGE
Want to Reduce Flashing?
ATTENTION-GRABBERS These signs on autoclaves
have reduced the incidences of immediate-use steam
sterilization at Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn.
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